Kristian Garic

Kristian: Saints offense out of sync today

by Kristian Garic,posted Aug 11 2014 11:56AM

Rain and wind: The Saints battled the elements at practice today, and clearly, the elements won. The offense and defense shared the fault. In particular, the Quarterback-Center exchange was incredibly sloppy with six fumbled exchanges during team drills. Coach Sean Payton was not pleased: “It was probably our flattest practice since we’ve been up here.” The Saints' tempo was sluggish to say the least - the coaches called them back into the offensive huddle several times after failing to line up correctly. I think aside from the weather, an attributing factor is the pace setter in Drew Brees. Brees sets the tempo for the offense, and not having him effects the timing and rhythm of the offense. Altogether, it was good for the team to practice in bad weather, and they couldn’t have simulated those conditions.

Sean Payton said today was one of out flatter practices since we have been up here #Saints

Cooks not bothered by the weather: Rookie wide receiver Brandin Cooks was the lone stand-out at practice today. Cooks had roughly 4 catches for 150 yards and touchdown that covered 70 yards, outracing several defenders to the end zone. “Corvallis, Oregon has this kind of weather all the time, so I’m kind of used to it,” Cooks said after practice.

PT Cruiser: After missing a handful of days with and undisclosed injury, running back Pierre Thomas returned to the practice field in full pads today. Thomas' workload wasn’t at his normal level, but it was encouraging to see him back on the field. Some fans were curious to see him listed third on the Saints un-official depth chart, but I didn’t read that much into it. The Saints have always employed three running backs in their offense and that won’t change. Thomas might be listed at number three, but he’s still very much a part of their plans going forward.